Corporate spend management solution Pluto has reportedly raised $6m for its seed round, as it continues its goal of becoming the market leader in the Middle East.
The investment was led by Global Founders Capital, with participation also coming from Soma Capital, Graph Ventures, Adapt Ventures and Oldslip Group, according to a report from TechCrunch.
US-based spend management platform Ramp also joined the round, alongside Airbase founder Thejo Kote, Plaid co-founder William Hockey, Not Boring’s Packy McCormick and MFM’s Shaan Puri.
With the fresh funds, the company plans to hire more staff, secure bank partnerships and licenses. It also has international growth plans, including the launch of its services in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the future, Pluto hopes to release its product in Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Pluto’s mission is to build the Ramp for the Middle East market. The FinTech company, which is based in Canada, provides businesses in the MENA region with spend management tools.
Its features include unlimited corporate credit cards with spend controls, simplified receipt scanning and expenses, automated accounting and more.
The company is still in its pre-launch, but has already got 35 customers in the pipeline, according to TechCrunch.
Pluto co-founder Mo Aziz believes Pluto is placed to succeed in the Middle East, where others have failed. Aziz told TechCrunch, “Companies like Brex have attempted taking on Middle Eastern businesses and issuing them corporate cards from the US. However, this only works for Middle Eastern businesses who also have a U.S. incorporation. Secondly, most U.S. corporate cards do not work perfectly in this region since merchants block U.S. card bins to avoid potential fraud.â€
Ramp is a spend management solution that helps businesses access corporate credit cards and manage employee expenses. It reached a $3.9bn valuation in 2021, following the close of a $300m funding round.
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